To the Point: a very simple red; good with food; had one
glass with a burger for lunch and a glass with a New York strip for dinner;
right price point to serve at a party; to set back and just enjoy – I’ll drink
the Big Easy by Fess Parker Winery; I liked the earlier Frontier Reds

Friday, August 22, 2014

I went to La Bistecca tonight for dinner and Jerry said they
had this bottle available and I just had to have it. The 750 ml bottle should run around 60 bucks
retail. The one liter bottle at a
wonderful restaurant like this set me back 140.
It paired well with my filet mignon. Damn, I just love their filet.

Being young, only 2012, I thought it was ready to enjoy now
and should age well. The boysenberry and
blackberry fruits were sitting there in the front row. Nice fresh oak; some toasted vanilla bean seemed to float around on the back of the palate;
silky satin mouthfeel; tannins were well controlled for such a young Cab. I’ll be picking up a case of this.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

I just cannot believe that I have never reviewed Toasted
Head Cab nor Merlot. I have always liked
the TH Merlot over the Cabernet Sauvignon but, that was 10 years ago or
so. Let’s get on with the review.

Appearance: a somewhat translucent ruby body

Aroma: dark berry bowl with a hint of spice;

Flavors: not too often that I agree with what is written on
a bottle of wine but, I my notes were real close to theirs; on the bottle: “…
medium-bodied…, blackberry, cassis with hints of cloves and vanilla…”

To the Point: I still like this wine; a great value wine at
$9.59 a bottle on sale (and I got another 10% off); so, $8.65 a bottle – That’s
it I’m out of here and going back and buy the rest of those bottles on the
clearance table.

Aroma: soft and ripe end of the patch berries; as the wine
opens there is a hint of floral and a delicate spice note

Flavors: the soft and delicate style continues to the palate
with notes of black currant, black raspberry, and a lightly tart cranberry
note; a hint of violet evolves with a pinch of of green peppercorn

Mouthfeel: yes, soft and delicate; medium body;

To the Point: a nice wine that you can pick up
at the grocery store; probably not one for aging; a very good value wine for
under 15 bucks; for 20 dollars and over it’s just okay

Aroma: after letting the glass breathe for a while the nose
seems a little more under control; big time peppery spice at first, as the nose
settles – a berry bowl mixture comes to mind and it seems on the tart side of
the berry taste

Flavors: right after opening the bottle it is a little tart;
the tannins and acidity seem a little wacked out for the moment; black currant,
raspberry, dark cherry, and cranberry come into play; nice spice note; a little
earthy – more like a watery earthy style or mineral water

Mouthfeel: tart; soft flannel feel; tannins have a little
bite; moderate acidity; mineral water on the edge; thin on the back and
aftertaste;

To the Point: not bad for a 12 dollar bottle; drinks like a
12 dollar bottle; Lot No. 122 drank like a 25 dollar bottle for only 12 bucks; probably
at it end for age; Lot No. 90 is out – I’ll have to look for this one.

Aroma: let this bottle open before enjoying; big juicy dark
berries: blackberry, mulberry, boysenberry; solid earthy tone of soil – it’s
like you can taste the soil the vines were grown in with each sniff; has
sweetness and creaminess of a 55% dark chocolate; here and there I get a whiff
of ground white peppercorn with its musty style;

Flavors: the first few sips right after opening the bottle
it seemed a little thin; after letting it open the flavors really popped; rich
dark berries mingle with the 55% like dark chocolate; a touch of campfire
toasted marshmallow; tart cranberry on the mid; peppery spice seems to be more
on the finish; nice earthy notes evolve – lighter earthy tone on the front and
moderate earthy tones on the back;

To the Point: decant this bottle for 30 minutes before enjoying;
fresh out of the bottle comes across thin and once it opens up boy is it tasty;
just as good as the 2009 blend; might not be as complex as that vintage but
damn close; I highly recommend; can age till 2019; I bought a six pack case and
I don’t think one of these bottles will make it to 2016 – so, I guess I should
buy another six pack!

And, for the cigar lovers – this is great with a fine
cigar. I would recommend a medium rare
filet mignon topped with blue cheese and cherries or grilled lamb chops; I will
do a full dinner review with this wine down the road.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

The first time I had this wine was wine I went to a
restaurant, here in Michigan, and they just started the ‘cork the bottle’
law. This is when you order a bottle of
wine at a restaurant and you don’t finish it you can have them cork it and you
can take in home. That was a few years
ago (I’ll look it up when that went into effect).

This is an easy wine to drink. A nice ‘restaurant’ wine. Maybe, even a nice everyday wine. Nothing big, nothing special, just pleasing
to drink.

I am finally doing a review on this wine for I don’t think I
have ever reviewed it – once again – I’ll have to look that up too. No I have not reviewed this wine.

Now, dealing with wine laws, I stated the first time I had
this wine was when they made a new law regarding ‘carry out’ wine. Today, I just heard the State of Michigan
passed a law that you can now bring your own bottle of wine into a restaurant ‘if
they don’t have that wine’. The person
told me that the establishment will charge an ‘opening fee.’ And, once again I’ll have to look this wine
up. Damn, I have a lot of research to
do!

Really, there is a big demand for this. And, doesn’t this hurt the restaurant. Let’s say that mister cheap skate comes in
with this wine – a $14.00 bottle – and then he pays, I don’t know, let’s say a
$5.00 opening fee. That would bring the
bottle cost to 19 buck for the consumer.
Yes, it would probably would have cost them $29.00 for the same bottle –
saving the person ten dollars. But, the
restaurant owner is losing out. And NO,
mister cheap skate is not going to order ten more dollars’ worth of food.

Just looked up the new wine law. It is called, House
Bill 5046 and it was signed in December of 2013 according to
Mlive.com. It sounds like the big
thinkers up there in Lansing Michigan think that it will help the Michigan wine
industry. REALLY! What is there fifty wine drinkers, in the
whole state, out there with their Michigan bottle of wine saying, ‘let me bring
my bottle of Michigan wine into this restaurant?’ How about passing something really important
to the people of Michigan. Click here
to read more about the new law.

To the Point: a very nice wine; like I said, a nice everyday
wine; pleasing body, pleasing flavors; yes I would buy this again.

Back to the new law.
Restaurants are encouraged to participate but, do not have to follow the
new law. It sounds like they can make
their own ‘opening’ cost but, it cannot be the cost to cover the ‘difference’
of what they would charge.

Personally, I can think of only one or two places I would do
this. The one place is up north in Port
Austin where I like the food at the restaurant but, damn they have the cheapest
wine a place can serve. This law would
help this place because I would go there more frequently.

This law also hurts the server – you know the waiter or the
waitress. I bring in my $50 bottle of
wine – do I tip them on that or the uncorking fee? Answer: the uncorking fee. I would tip on the cost of the bottle I
brought in but, I would put money on it that the majority of people would
not.

Here is the side of me who likes this idea. I like to go to a restaurant in Plymouth
Michigan called La Bistecca. The price of a bottle that I usually buy
there would be in the 60 to 100 dollar range.
That would mean that the price of that bottle is really 25 to maybe 50
or 55. I could now bring in a real 75
dollar bottle of wine that I really love at that price and I would be happy as
a double peckered goat. Just remember,
that is if they don’t serve that wine and if they allow you to bring your own
bottle in.

I personally don’t think many people will take advantage of
this new law. I also don’t think it will
hurt the owner of the establishment – they have enough money. I think it will only hurt the server. So, if you do this mister cheap skate – tip
the server on the price of that bottle at least 10% and 20% on the rest of your
bill.

Mouthfeel: dry; tannins are moderate and under control; nice
black fruit bitterness on the back and aftertaste; a pleasing thickness to the
body on the first glass – starts to get a little jammy on the second glass; I’ll
give it a 6 on my strength scale – just inside the medium-full range;

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The Poster

I am just a wino! I have nothing to do with the wine industry. I am just a consumer and I have a palate for fine wines. I discovered my love of red wine back in the 1990's.

I am not a trained wine taster but, I am not the average wine consumer either. I have 100 to 150 bottles of wine in my cellar at any given time. The bottles cost any where from $10.00 a bottle to $125.00.

I do not get any wines for free to do the reviews. These wines are on my dime and my personal review. If it ever happens that a place gives me a bottle to review I will put that in the posting.

I am using this blog as my journal. While taste is purely subject, there is an objective side to reviewing wine. I hope you enjoy the postings and that they can help you in deciding what wine would be good for you.